Jon’s POV

            I followed her into the little shopping mall and let her lead the way to a department store; she walked straight to the mens department and started fingering through a stack of jeans.

“What size are you?” She asked; I looked down thinking about her question. It had been over a year since I had bought new jeans and couldn’t remember my size; even if I did after all the working out I did while I was locked up I doubt that I would be the same size still.

“I don’t know.”

“Ok, well try these on and let me know how they fit.” She handed me two pairs of jeans and pointed over to the fitting rooms.

            I took the folded jeans from her hands and went into the fitting room to try them on; I stripped out of my sweats and unfolded the first pair of jeans, my mouth hit the floor when I took them in. What the hell? The jeans she had handed me were the type that got smaller as they went down the leg; typical cowboy jeans and not my style. There was no fucking way that I was going to wear these.

“Do they fit?” Her voice came from right outside the stall I was standing in.

“I am not wearing these!”

“Why not?”

“Did you even look at what you handed me? There is no way I am putting these on.”

“Just try them on and let me see.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“If ya’ don’t put them on yourself then I will come in there and do it for you.” She threatened and the door to the stall jiggled; shit, she was serious.

“Fine!” I growled back before slipping on the jeans; looking in the mirror I looked like an idiot, these jeans were not meant for my body type.

“These look stupid, I’m not wearing them.” I complained as I went to take them off.

“Let me see.” She demanded; not feeling like arguing with her I stepped out of the stall.

            Her fingers instantly went to my waistband as she checked to see if the size was right; it was slightly awkward to have her reaching down my pants in the middle of a department store, not that I was really complaining. Once she seemed satisfied with the fit on the waist she took a few steps back and rubbed her chin as she looked me over; she twirled her finger in the air telling me to turn around and I did as she asked.

“You’re right, that’s not the right fit for you. Go take them off and I will bring ya’ somethin’ different.” She said skipping her way back into the store and leaving me to change out of the jeans.

“Heads up!” She called and I looked up just in time to see another pair of jeans being tossed over the stall. I tried on the new ones and although they had a slightly straighter leg than the last they still weren’t close to my usual style.

“How do they feel?” She asked through the stall.

“Still not my style.” I replied.

“Were not goin’ for style were goin’ for functionality.” After running my hand through my short hair a few times I stepped out of the stall to let her take a look. Her hands went straight back to the waistband to check the size and after a quick look at the back she was satisfied and allowed me to change. She grabbed four more pairs of the same style jeans in different washes and tossed them in the cart, we then moved onto picking out shirts; the first shirt she picked up was a button up flannel pattern, I snatched it out of her hands and hung it back up on the rack before she could even give it a second thought.

“No, no and no. Flannel is where I draw the line.” I said moving my body between her and the rack of flannels.

“You’re so difficult.” She complained before moving onto another rack.

            She picked out five different button up shirts and after trying them on to make sure they fit she tossed them in the cart; she proceeded to add in some plain white t-shirts, white tanks, socks, boxers and briefs. When she felt satisfied with the selection she walked us over to the dress clothes section and picked out two pairs of slacks and button up shirts and handed them to me; she pointed over to the fitting room and I went in to try them on.

“What would I need dress clothes for anyway?” I asked ready to just go home already; I was over the whole shopping thing and just wanted to go back to my new apartment and relax for the rest of the day.

“For church.” She replied in a ‘duh’ tone.

“I don’t go to church.” I replied finishing up the buttons on the shirt she had me trying on.

“You do now.” She declared in a matter of fact kind of way; I stepped out of the dressing room raising my eyebrows at her, really, church?

“You’re supposed to tuck it in.” She eyed my shirt disapprovingly before coming over and taking the liberty to tuck it in herself; as her hand gazed my package I had to hold back a groan. She really needed to stop doing this; does she realize how long it’s been since I have been with a woman?

“Satisfied?” I asked once she finished adjusting the shirt and stood back to take a look; her hand went up to her chin and she tilted her head to the side thinking. I did my best not to chuckle at her; she looked adorable when she was thinking hard about something but no one should have to think that hard about how someone looks in clothes.

“Hold on.” She held up a finger before turning around and rushing back into the dress area of the store; she came back moments later with two ties and held each one up before decided which one she wanted to use and put it on me.

“Perfect! Now go change.” She smiled satisfied with her work before turning on her heels and loading up the other clothes she had me try on in the already overflowing cart.

“Are we done now?” I asked when I came back out holding the things I had taken off.

“Almost.” She said taking the things from me and tossing them in the cart with the rest of the stuff, she then proceeded to lead me to yet another section of the store; when we got to the shoe department I automatically headed to the sneakers while she went to look at something else.

“What size are you?” She shouted over the racks of shoes while I eyed a pair of DC’s.

“Eleven.” I shouted back picking up one of the black and white sneakers.

“Try these on.” She was at my side holding up a pair of cowboy boots.

“Uh, no.” I shook my head at her and turned my attention back to the shoe in my hand. I heard her let out a huff of air before she lifted my foot and started to take off my shoe; god she was persistent. Knowing that she was going to get her way whether I agreed to it or not I took of my shoe myself and slipped on the boot. 

“How does it feel?” She asked; I moved my toes around in the boot and was surprised to find that it was extremely comfortable, I wasn’t about to admit that though.

“Fine.” I said sliding off the boot.

“Well was it too tight or too loose? It’s fine if it’s a little tight but you don’t want it to be too loose.” She questioned receiving a glare from me before I answered.

“It felt fine, not too loose or too tight, just fine.” I ran my hand through my hair hoping that we would get this over with soon; my nerves were starting to wear thin and I didn’t know how much more of her persistent attitude that I could handle.

“Fine, you want them in brown or black?” She held up one of each color.

“You decide.” I replied leaning back against the wall behind the bench I was sitting on.

“Brown it is then. Try these on and I promise I will leave you alone after that.” She held out a pair of shiny dress shoes to me; after trying them on and making sure they fit she tossed them in the cart with all the other things.

“Ok so you pick out a few outfits and some shoes for your off days and I will meet you up by the register.” She said going to push the cart away.

“I want these.” I said before she got far and I tossed her the box of DC’s; I had no idea that they were going to buy me sneakers too but I wasn’t going to pass up on the chance to get some new kicks.

“Ok, go pick your clothes and meet me up there.” She pointed in the general direction of the register and I headed back to the mens department to grab a pair of jeans, shorts, and a few t-shirts. When I got to the register the check out lady was just scanning the last few items on the counter and I placed the things I was carrying up there so she could scan them too.

“Who’s this strappin’ young fella?” The older lady asked as she scanned the things I brought up and tossed them in a bag.

“Polly this is Jon, Bubbas son.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you young man.” Polly said offering me a bright smile.

“Pleased to meet you too.” I replied returning the smile.

“You two have a good night and Lina make sure you tell your daddy hi for me.” Polly said as we grabbed our bags and headed for the door.

“Sure thing Mrs. Keller, have a great night.”

            Eight bags and over six hundred dollars later we were headed back to her truck; we loaded the bags into the back seat before climbing in and heading back towards the farm. I couldn’t help but think about how Polly had called her Lina in the store; her father had called her Kit-Kat and I think he might have even just called her Kat over the intercom.

“Why did Polly call you Lina?” I asked after my curiosity got the best of me.

“That’s my name.” She replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Your dad called you Kit-Kat, or Kat; do you have two names?” I asked causing her to chuckle.

“First of all my father is the only one allowed to call me Kit-Kat so if you were thinkin’ about using that name you can forget about it. Kat and Lina are both nicknames but I prefer Lina over Kat.”

“Ok so what’s your real name?” I was still curious; she cleared up the whole nickname thing but still never told me what her real name was.

“My name is Katalina.”

“That’s a cool name.” I replied regretting it as soon as the words left my mouth; that was a stupid thing to say. She looked over raising her eyes at me before starting to laugh.

“What’s so funny about that?” I knew I sounded stupid but was it really necessary to laugh about it?

“Just never had anyone tell me that before; most people think its weird or unique, never had it described as cool before though.” She chuckled again.

“Well I’m glad you find it amusing.” I joked and we both laughed; a comfortable silence filled the cab the rest of the way back to the farm.